


Fallout: Mars Edition

by JGKitarel, NephChampion



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Do not post this without permission, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:34:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 19,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JGKitarel/pseuds/JGKitarel, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NephChampion/pseuds/NephChampion
Summary: If Hino Rei thought she had some room to breathe now that the Dark Kingdom has been defeated, she's dead wrong. Now it's a race against the clock to rescue more survivors of The Fall.Lives will be lost, but can they save anyone on Mars before the system fails utterly?
Kudos: 13





	1. Mars: Situation Normal System Failing

**Author's Note:**

> This will be introducing a few of the Original characters seen in Black Sniper. This fic is not required reading, but it might help.
> 
> Co-Author's Addition: JGKitarel here. I'm the one who wrote this for the Spacebattles Forums, so any formatting errors, spelling errors and other mistakes, confusions, and general results of suckage are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

**Minato, Hikawa Shrine**  
  
Ruined buildings on a red plain. A large room where thousands of people were in cubicles surrounded by light. Slowly, the lights going out. A sense of urgency. A woman with russet hair and a name: Nemain. She saw Rameses working furiously on something, his actions having a manic desperation to them, as if he was running out of time.  
  
Rei stood up and bowed to the sacred fire, her mind already working out what the meanings of what she saw were, not that it was hard for her. It was rare that her divinations were so clear, with less abstract symbology than the norm, but she knew to take those divinations seriously. They meant that what she saw was happening right now and she didn't have much time to act.  
  
Rei found Rameses sweeping the Shrine's courtyard when she went looking for him. He and his sister had resumed their stay at the shrine and went back to helping her and her grandfather with its upkeep, not that it was difficult for just the two of them, but extra hands were always appreciated. Even better, neither had to be told to do any specific task. If they saw that something needed to be done, they did it, rather than idle around until told what needed to be done.  
  
"Rameses," she called out.  
  
Rameses stopped his sweeping and turned to face her. "Yes?" He asked in Japanese. Both he and his sister were making more use of it as they learned the language. It would take months before they were really competent in the language, but with Silica having returned home, the two had immersed themselves in the language more to make up for the lack of an on hand interpreter.  
  
Of course, she wanted to make sure he fully understood her right now. "When you finish, meet me inside," she said in Graelic.  
  
Rameses nodded. "Understood," he replied in the same language. "Barring any wind, it'll be about thirty minutes or so."  
  
Rei nodded and went back inside, idly wondering if Rameses said thirty minutes as a hedge. Probably so, given that he was finished in twenty.  
  
"You wanted to see me, Princess Rei?" He asked, still using Graelic.  
  
Rei nodded. "Yes, I did a divination and you're needed," she said. "Get your gear, we're taking a trip to Phobos Castle."  
  
Rameses blinked. "Wait, Phobos Castle?" He asked in shock. "Why would we-"  
  
"We don't have a lot of time," Rei said. "I'll explain when we get there, so grab your gear."  
  
Rameses made no move to leave. He opened his Mystic Tome and replaced everything he was wearing with what he wore when going out on patrol. "Done," he said.  
  
Rei nodded and transformed. "Hold on," she said, grabbing him.  
  
An instant later, both were gone.

* * *

  
  
**Mars Orbit, Phobos Castle**  
  
Rameses felt Guardian Mars let him go and took stock of his surroundings. The air was a bit stale, but not as stale as it had been around Praśāntate Samudra during his first visit to the Royal Captial's ruins. _Good systems,_ he thought idly.  
  
_"_ INTRUDERS, IDENTIFY YOURSELVES _._ " A voice ordered over the intercom.  
  
Guardian Mars held up a hand. "I am Rei Hino, reincarnation of Princess Badb of Mars and the current Guardian Mars," she said as she manifested her power, causing Rameses to stumble. "With me is Rameses Soulfire, of the Soulfire Family."  
  
"IDENTIFYING POWER SIGNATURE," the voice said. "SIGNATURE IDENTIFIED. WELCOME, GUARDIAN MARS AND GUEST. **"**  
  
Mars nodded and released her power. "Ares, report."  
  
"CURRENT STATUS OF PHOBOS CASTLE, THIRTY PERCENT FUNCTIONAL." The apparent AI declared. "CURRENT STATUS OF RAMIRA... FAILED. CURRENT STATUS OF THESSONIA BIOFIELD.. OPERATIONAL BUT CONDITION BLUE. CURRENT STATUS OF..."  
  
Rameses winced as he heard the status reports. If anything was working, it was failing, given that everything functional was Condition Blue. Given Mars' environment and iron rich soil, calling a failing system Condition Red meant the opposite of what it meant elsewhere. He could understand why Mars wanted to come here, if only to get the lowdown on what they had to work with. Venus had brought back materials from Magellan Castle, while Jupiter managed to confirm that Alfheim was not only around, but still inhabited, after all. But the sense of urgency she had...  
  
"MESSAGE LEFT BY LADY NEMAIN, **"** Ares said at the end.  
  
Rameses blinked. Wait, one of House Morrigan had time to leave a message?  
  
"Play it," Mars ordered.  
  
Both he and Guardian Mars turned to see a hologram appear on a pedestal. She was short Sylveri woman, standing as tall and proud despite the clear weariness she was showing. "To anyone seeing this," the woman said. "I am Lady Nemain Morrigan, of House Morrigan, and acting in Princess Badb's stead. The Empire had fallen, the Guardians are dead, and the Silence has been invoked. We don't know who and what else survived it, but if we did, then it is possible others have. If not..." she closed her eyes. "It was only because of how long we've been here that what little that survived did. As it stands, Thessonia is the only city that remains intact. We have engaged a desperate plan to give us as much time as possible and have engaged the Elysium Protocols, a mass stasis of the surviving population. I have reassured everyone that it will work, but... I am not sure. Or if it does, how long it will..."  
  
Rameses blinked. Elysium Protocols? He'd never heard of such, not that he expected to. And even if it was what the message said, he knew full well that it could have failed, in whole or in part, in the ensuing ten thousand years and the chance that it managed to survive so long was remote.  
  
Not that they shouldn't check. A remote chance is still better than no chance and Rei's grabbing him and saying that they didn't have a lot of time meant that there were still survivors. For now.  
  
_And there will still be be survivors if I have anything to say about it,_ he thought grimly.  
  
He saw Mars look grim when the message ended. "Ares, give me current status of stasis for Elysium Protocols," she ordered.  
  
"Stasis fields are Condition Blue and a significant number are no longer functional," Ares said. "Remaining systems are expected to fail within six sols."  
  
"Six sols... that's... Mars, we need to get going, _now,_ " Rameses said. "Ares, Guardian Mars doesn't have access to the Mystic Tome right now, send me the information and the mapping information."  
  
"Ares, I am authorizing Rameses Soulfire to have the relevant information," Mars said before the AI could respond.  
  
"UNDERSTOOD, GUARDIAN MARS, **"** Ares said. "TRANSMITTING INFORMATION TO RAMESES SOULFIRE... DONE."  
  
Rameses opened his Mystic Tome and brought up the mapping system. He selected the new information for Thessonia, looked at it, and nodded to Mars. "I have it, Guardian Mars," he said.  
  
"Then let's go," Mars said, grabbing a hold of him.  
  
Moments later, they were gone.


	2. Code Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thessonia certainly has seen better days.

**Mars, Thessonia Ruins**  
  
Guardian Mars looked at the red soil and blue sky and shivered. The entire area was cold and desolate, but an inhaled breath showed that the air was still circulating, if a bit thin. More like being halfway up Mount Fuji than anything. She felt something pulling on her power as well, but couldn't identify the source or reason, only that it was not hostile. She looked around more and saw that the city was largely intact, though she saw many piles of stone and steel which were probably collapsed buildings. Enough that she wouldn't put her faith in the soundness of the remaining buildings that were still standing.  
  
She saw a wide boulevard that was largely clear of rubble leading to a large dome made of the same red stone that was Mars' surface that looked far less weathered than anything else in the city.  
  
"Okay," she heard Rameses say. "We're on the _Chrysó Odó_ and a little less than a stadia, around one of your kilometers, from the _Pýli Sidírou_ , where we need to go." He took a deep breath. "A bit thin and stale, but breathable." He looked at Mars. "We should go, Princess." He began to walk toward the dome, his strides demonstrating the purpose he was walking with.  
  
Mars blinked and moved to catch up with him. "This must have been a great city, once," she said as she came alongside him.  
  
Rameses nodded. "It was," he said, keeping his eyes focused forward. "I was born here, you know."  
  
"Really?" Mars asked, looking at him. "Well, welcome back, then. Though I don't think you ever thought you would come back to this."  
  
Rameses kept facing forward. "To be honest, I didn't expect to come back at all," he admitted. "Let alone to see if there was still anyone left alive."  
  
"Do you...?"  
  
"Princess, don't," Rameses interrupted. "I know better than to do more than hope, but until I see it... I will hope for the best. That's all I can do."  
  
Mars nodded and they continued their walk.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
They reached the doors of the _Pýli Sidírou_ ten minutes later. Rameses surveyed them and could see that they had been magically sealed. And not subtly at that, if _he_ could tell. Yes, he knew a few of the signs, but he shouldn't have been able to spot it right away like that.  
  
Then again, a blue glow on the doors tends to be rather obvious.  
  
"So, any ideas?" Mars asked.  
  
"You're the Guardian, they should react to you," he said.  
  
Mars gave him a level look before shrugging. "And what am I supposed to do, just walk up to them and touch them?" She asked sarcastically as she walked up to them. "You know, like this?" She touched the doors, right on the symbol for Mars.  
  
Both were surprised when the blue glow on the doors increased and, with a flash, faded. They winced as the doors opened with a squeal of rusted metal. Mars gave Rameses a level look.  
  
"To be fair, Princess, I didn't expect it to be that easy," he admitted.  
  
"And what did you expect?" Mars asked.  
  
"Not the doors opening and letting us in, that's for certain."  
  
" _Obviously,_ " Mars huffed. "Now, you have the map. Where do we go?"  
  
Rameses consulted the map. "This way," he said stepping forward.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Mars kept a wary eye out as she and Rameses kept moving. She could tell that the place was once magnificent, teeming with the footfalls of thousands. A hallmark of better days. Now, it was as quiet as a tomb, and that quiet was leaving her on edge. She knew about the encounters with Hollows in the ruined Royal Capital, she had even encountered some when she was a part of the most recent expedition there, and she wouldn't be surprised if they ran into _something_ here.  
  
She noticed that the air was getting fresher and warmer. It was also not as thin as it had been when the first arrived in Thessonia. A sign that her presence was bolstering the fields that made the area habitable? She could still feel the slight and steady drain on her power, after all.  
  
"Rameses, how close are we?" She asked.  
  
She watched Rameses look over the map. "It should be at the end of this path," he replied. "We're getting close to the- never mind. We're here." He pointed ahead.  
  
Mars stopped and looked where Rameses was pointing. A sheer rock face with a heavily reinforced door set into it stood before them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations and Terms:
> 
> Chrysó Odó - Golden Road  
> Stadia - Unit of Measurement, approximately 1.2 km.  
> Pýli Sidírou - Ironcast Palace, the large dome that has a large complex within it that had many functions. Oldest man made structure on Mars at approximately sixty thousand years old.


	3. Alive and Not Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a choice is made. Try to save everyone and risk failing, or save those you can?

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Breaking the seal on the door went very much like how she broke the seal to allow them access to the Pýli Sidírou, she just had to touch the symbol of Mars and wait a moment for the seals to undo themselves. At least the door opening was much quieter than how it was when they got into the domed complex. At the same time, the door was set into a rock face that hadn't been obvious from the outside, meaning that it was either a small rock face that the entire complex was built around, or it was artificial and meant to look natural. As she looked in the dark entrance, lights began to come on and illuminate a stair heading down.  
  
"Crystalights," Rameses said. "Despite being more magic than technology, they have a low power draw and they last."  
  
Mars nodded, though she wondered how they lasted this long and were getting power. "Let's go," she said, walking forward and heading down the stairs.  
  
It took them about ten minutes to reach the bottom of the stairs, where another reinforced door that she had to open waited. After it opened. she spied another a few meters behind it, and was stopped by Rameses before she could move forward. She turned to see him consulting the map in front of him, manipulating it. After a moment, he looked at it and nodded. "It's an airlock," he said, looking up. "I don't know _why_ they would- Actually, never mind. I can guess."  
  
"And what do you guess?" She asked.  
  
"They built this as a holdout," he said. "Which means that they had to consider that _everything else_ could have broken down and/or failed. I'm beginning to see what they did here."  
  
Mars knew what he was getting at. The wouldn't know how long it would take and would want to ensure that where they were kept in stasis still had things like a breathable atmosphere at least, probably more. Hopefully. "Well, we've come this far," she said. "Let's go."  
  
Rameses nodded and the two entered the airlock.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Once the airlock finished cycling with a quick decontamination using light of all thing in the process, the two entered the room beyond it. Rameses was thankful that it was lit, though all the crystalights illuminating the room were fairly dim in comparison to outside the room. But it made it clear that it was full of stasis pods.  
  
A lot of pods.  
  
"By the Sun, how many people are in here?" He asked. "There has to be thousands!"  
  
"And so many pods have already failed," Mars said somberly.  
  
Rameses gave a sad nod as he looked around. "But there are still some working," he said. He looked around and saw a lit console and walked towards it. "Mars, this console still has power." He brought up the interface and was surprised that he wasn't ordered to bring up any credentials. Were they that certain that only those approved for this would access the system, or did they simply want to make sure that anyone who found them could wake them up?  
  
Considering that the system immediately gave links to the instructions in all the Empire's major languages and even one that was obviously for pictographic instructions, he suspected that it was the latter.  
  
"Whoever set this up, I have to give them credit," he said as he brought up the Graelic instructions. "While I can't say they thought of everything, they wanted to make sure that anyone who found this could wake everyone up." He looked at the instructions. "The written ones are in every major language of the Empire, and from what I can see, they're simple and to the point. They even had one that's all pictures."  
  
"Okay," Mars said. "How long will it take you?"  
  
Rameses looked at the instructions. "Okay, give me a moment, we need to bring everything back to full power," he said. "The stasis systems look to be similar to the ones we used on Aincrad, so they don't require a lot of power to keep working, but putting people into stasis and bringing them out of it requires a bit more juice." He looked at the instructions and began entering in commands. He noticed the lights getting brighter and nodded. "Okay, main power's back on and is at fifty percent. Checking status- _shit_!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The power system's working for now, but bringing everything up... it won't for more than a few hours," Rameses said. "We're not going to be able to do this gradually. _Fuck!"_  
  
"Can you wake everyone?" Mars asked _._  
  
"I can, but it's going to be fast and dirty," Rameses said. He knew what a sudden Awakening, rather than doing it more slowly, could do to a person. Aincrad had enough failures with the stasis systems that they've had to do emergency Awakenings. They had lost hundreds because they had to do it. "It's going to shock some systems and... we're likely going to lose people."  
  
"We'll lose everyone if we _don't_ wake them up," Mars said and then closed her eyes. "Do it. Those we lose... I'll take full responsibility."  
  
Rameses closed his eyes for a moment. "Understood," he said and got to work.


	4. Waking Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No matter how quickly you act, it's too late for some.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Rameses input commands to bring the stasis pods that were still functioning to ready status to begin the Awakening process.  
  
_Sector Alpha, twenty percent of pods functioning. Sector Beta, fifteen percent. Sector..._  
  
He continued to input commands, observing the status of every sector, letting the information flow, and moving on.  
  
_Sector Chi, no pods functional. Sector Psi, thirty percent. Sector Omega, forty percent._  
  
He began to punch in the commands to begin the Emergency Awakening Protocols,  
  
_Initiating Emergency Awakening Protocols._  
  
He kept a careful eye on the Awakening Status for each sector, watching for any problems. He heard the hum of the pods rising in pitch. There! Sector Zeta wasn't- He began to input commands, looking for the problem and it didn't take him long to find it. Insufficient power. _Shit!_ He thought. Sector Zeta had the most surviving pods. He checked the other sectors, Beta was almost done, he input commands to have power redirected once Sector Beta was done and the pods were open. Now, to head off the _next_ problem...  
  
**< <>>**  
  
"I'm awake?"  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"Enopious, you promised you'd be there when we were brought out!"  
  
"Daddy, wake up!"  
  
"Lasthena, I'm sure Daddy will wake up soon. Ocealus, _wake up_! Ocealus!"  
  
"Please Xene, please! Wake up! _Xene!_ "  
  
"Cyrene, you're alive! Thank the Goddesses, you're alive!"  
  
Mars heard it all as people awoke from stasis. reuniting with friends and loved ones, or realizing that they were gone. She heard the elation and the grief. She tapped one man who was hugging a girl, on the shoulder.  
  
"Yes?" He asked.  
  
"I need you to start helping people who are struggling to get out of the pods, grab whoever you need to," she said. "Leave the one at the console be, he's working to wake up as many as he can before the power fails, but we need to get people out of the pods."  
  
The man gave her a skeptical look. "And who are you?"  
  
Mars gave him a sharp look and flared her power out. "Look, we don't have time for this," she said. "Just help people get out of the pods if they need help!" She looked around at the shocked crowd. "Anyone else who can, do it. A few of you stay around and mind the children, but let's get everyone who is still alive out of the pods."  
  
"Yes ma'am!"  
  
She started going about the pods, helping when she saw someone needing assistance, offering a word here and there, and basically moving about. The fact that she was telling people what to do if they seemed lost or confused seemed to give everyone around her a sense of purpose.  
  
"Hey, the pod door's jammed here!" A voice called out.  
  
Mars looked in the direction the voice came form and saw a single operational pod that was surrounded by inert ones. She saw one man trying to force the pod open and walked over. "Allow me," she said as she gripped the lip opposite where the pod's "hinges" were. She gave it a sharp pull and the pod opened, giving out a cloud of gasses. She heard coughing from inside and looked. It was a girl, about five or six years old. And her hair was a shade of red that she had seen on only one other person.  
  
Mars helped the girl get out of the pod and looked back to where Rameses was monitoring everything and inputting commands at a furious rate. She could see the frantic purpose in his actions and went back to what she was doing. "There you go," she said in Graelic.  
  
"Thank you, miss," the girl said as she looked at her. "Umm... who are you?"  
  
Mars chuckled. "I'm the current Guardian of Mars, but you can call me Rei," she replied. "And you?"  
  
"I'm Elerin!" The girl replied cheerfully. "Elerin Soulfire!" She looked around. "Umm, have you seen my mommy, Miss Rei?"  
  
"Do you know where her pod is?" Mars asked gently.  
  
Elerin's screwed her face up in thought before her expression brightened. "She was in the pod next to mine!" She said and looked around.  
  
Mars looked at the man who had been trying to open Elerin's pod previously, who shook his head, confirming what she already knew. Elerin was the only survivor among this group of pods. She gave the girl a sad look. "Elerin, dear, I... I'm sorry," she said.  
  
"Mars," Rameses said from behind. "Sectors Alpha, Beta, Epsilon and Psi are done, the rest should be completed shortly."  
  
Mars turned and saw him walking to where she was. She noticed him give the man whose warning that Elerin's pod was jammed a nod and him give Elerin a curious look. "And who's this little one?" He asked, kneeling down to look at her.  
  
"I'm Elerin!" Elerin said cheerfully. "Umm, can you tell me why Miss Rei said she's sorry?"  
  
Rameses looked at Mars, who shook her head, and then at the inert pods around them. She could tell that he knew exactly what happened. "Rameses, I... can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked him. She looked at the man who was still there.  
  
"I'll look after her while you have your talk," he said.  
  
"Thank you," Mars said.


	5. Family Lost, Family Gained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rameses knew better than to do little more than hope. And very little of it at that. But sometimes, even hope can be answered, if only a little. Or, wherein Rameses becomes an unexpected big brother.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
"Okay, what is it you need to tell me?" Rameses asked as soon as he and Mars got a short distance away.  
  
Mars sighed, this was going to be difficult. "Rameses, I... you heard her name, right?"  
  
Rameses nodded. "Yeah, Elerin, but what does that-?" He stopped, his eyes widening.  
  
Mars nodded. "She was the only survivor in this section of pods," she said. "Her family name is... is Soulfire."  
  
"Soulfire," Rameses said blankly as he looked at the inert pods. "No. No, _no, **no!** "_ He moved from pod to pod. looking in each one frantically. "Uncle Speritas." He went to another. "Aunt Thiti. G _iagiá_." He paused at another. "Cousin Dicaeus." He looked into more pods and fell to his knees. "No..." Tears began to fall. "They're gone. No..."  
  
"Rameses," Mars said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Rameses, look at me."  
  
He looked up.  
  
"Elerin, she survived," she said. "She's a Soulfire. You aren't the last one. You _still have family alive._ "  
  
"Elerin," he said. "Little Elerin. She was only a few months old when The Fall happened. And she's alive?"  
  
Mars nodded. "Yes, she's alive," she said. "Focus on that."  
  
Rameses took a shuddering breath and calmed himself. "Right," he said, getting back to his feet. "Right. I've lived with the belief that I was the last for years. I've had time to come to terms with it. Sorry. It's just..."  
  
Mars gave him a sad smile. "Knowing and seeing are two different things," she said. "But you have one family member still alive, and she's not going to take it well when the truth sinks in. Be there for her. We need to see to the living first before we can see to the dead."  
  
Rameses nodded. "You're right," he said. "And... I have a cousin to meet."  
  
**< <>>**  
  
"I'm sorry we had to go away a bit," Miss Rei said, causing Elerin to look up.  
  
"It's perfectly fine, ma'am," the man, who introduced himself as Ennaeus, said. "I understand that you had to inform the young man something and that the information was going to be... delicate."  
  
"That's putting it mildly," said 'young man' replied. "But where are my manners. Rameses Soulfire. And you?"  
  
"Ennaeus Metrou," Ennaeus replied.  
  
"Thank you for watching my cousin," Rameses said.  
  
Ennaeus nodded. "It was no bother, and I should get back to my wife and son," he said and then walked off.  
  
"Miss Rei, did you find my mommy?" Elerin asked.  
  
"I-"  
  
"We did," Rameses said. "She... she isn't going to wake."  
  
"Rameses!" Miss Rei said sharply.  
  
"Mars, it won't do her any favors lying to her or trying to hide it," Rameses replied with a sigh. "Trust me on this." He loocked back. "At least... at least we can give her the chance to say goodbye."  
  
Miss Rei looked ready to say something before she stopped. "Just... do the same, yourself, okay?"  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Rameses held Elerin's hand as he approached the open pod. looking to the two on each side. "Elerin, which one was your mother in?" He asked.  
  
Elerin looked at the pods and pointed at the one to the left. "Umm, that one?" She said uncertainly.  
  
"Well, let's see then," Rameses said and slowly approached. He looked in and closed his eyes sadly. "Cousin Merte," he said quietly.  
  
"That's Mommy's name!" Elerin said. "She's in there? When will the pod open? When will she wake up?"  
  
Rameses gave his cousin a sad look. "Elerin, do you see how the pod is dark?"  
  
Elerin nodded.  
  
"The pod failed," Rameses explained slowly. "She's... not going to wake up. She's... returned to the Sun. I'm sorry." He looked back into the pod. Merte's body seemed to be asleep. Much like how it had been with his parents.  
  
"She's... not going to wake up?" Elerin asked slowly.  
  
Rameses shook his head.  
  
Elerin's eyes began to tear and Rameses pulled her close as she began to sob.  
  
_Merte, I will make sure she's looked after,_ he vowed. _I promise._ He heard the chime that said he had a message waiting for him and winced. _And I bet that Skuggi or the Princess._ _If not both._  
  
He knew he should open the message and read it. He knew he should reply.  
  
But first, he had a young cousin who just had her world pulled out from under her to comfort.  
  
**Earth - Tokyo, Hikawa Shrine**  
  
"Damn it, where is he?" Kebechet asked as she sent another furious message to her brother. She knew that Rameses was alive, the message, as well as the others, would have returned to her if he was dead. So why wasn't he replying?  
  
"No response?" Asuna asked.  
  
Kebechet looked at the reincarnate princess and shook her head. "No," she said. "And if he doesn't reply soon, I am turning him into a girl for a _month_ for making me worry like this."  
  
"Now, now, Kebechet, you don't need to be that extreme," Asuna said. "Not when we can simply switch his wardrobe out and make him dress the part for the next month. _And_ send him to Aincrad in full female uniform to parade him around there."  
  
"And Princess Rei?" Kebechet asked.  
  
"Oh, I have something in mind for her as well," Asuna replied.  
  
Kebechet nodded and blinked as she heard a chime. She also heard a similar chime coming from Asuna. "It's about time he replied," she said. "I swear, if this is like that Sword Wraith incident..." She brought up her Mystic Tome and opened the message he sent.  
  
_FM: Rameses Soulfire  
TO: Kebechet 'Skuggi' Soulfire, Asuna  
  
Subj: We've got a situation  
  
Skuggi, Princess,  
  
Sorry for not getting back sooner, but I've been busy for the last few hours. If you are checking the timestamp, you will notice that I sent this message several minutes ago. There is a reason for that.  
  
Princess Rei and I are on Mars, the ruins of Thessonia to be precise. She did a divination, grabbed me, and teleported us both to Phobos Castle. We found survivors. Not at Phobos Castle, but we learned about an Elysium Protocol there and went to Thessonia. The city's definitely seen better days, but we ,ade our way to the Pýli Sidírou and found a facility that had stasis pods. A lot of stasis pods.  
  
And far too many which have failed. And the power was going to fail soon so...  
  
We've done an Emergency Awakening, and yes, I know that means that we lost people from that. We didn't have the time to do it the right way.  
  
Right now, we are sorting things out with Lady Nemain Morrigan, getting a headcount, and seeing what the supply situation is like. Just a moment, Princess Rei has something she wants to add._  
  
\------------------  
  
_Asuna, things are bad here, but not as bad as they could be. As soon as this message is sent, I'm headed to Phobos Castle to get what beacons we have up and running. We need supplies and tell Persephone to go to Aincrad and see what ships they have. The Biolfields are holding_ , _but it's because I'm on Mars. I don't know how long they will last once I leave. We have two thousand people we need to evacuate.  
  
Rei.  
  
\-----------------  
  
And there you have it. Skuggi, go through _everything _Aincrad's sent us, pack it back, and be ready to take a trip. Get whoever you need to help with this. Princess, if Princess Persephone can't arrange for ships, have her grab anyone who can do the repairs and work needed to get that heap of scrap we found at the spaceport back to flying condition.  
  
We need to get these people situated as soon as we can.  
  
Oh, and Skuggi, looks like our living family just grew by one. I found a cousin still alive. She's five, Skuggi, and... the rest of my family has returned to the Sun.  
  
Rameses_  
  
Kebechet looked at Asuna. "You got the message as well, right?" She asked.  
  
Asuna nodded. "Yes," she replied. "And it looks like things are going to be a bit busy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation: 
> 
> Giagiá - Grandmother


	6. Filling In the One In Charge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Those who are alive are awake, but it's not over yet. And Lady Nemain has some questions herself.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
"Young man, I believe that you were the one who Awakened us?" A woman's voice asked from behind.  
  
Rameses turned and gave a bow as soon as he saw her. "Yes, Lady Nemain," he replied. "I had to do it using Emergency Awakening protocols to ensure that we didn't run out of power during the process, but I was the one who did so."  
  
Nemain Morrigan looked at him. "And who gave you the authorization to do so?" She asked.  
  
"I gave him the authorization," Mars said, walking up. "He warned me that the process would likely have us lose people, but with the power situation, I decided that the risk needed to be taken. Better to risk losing some than losing everyone."  
  
Nemain considered that and nodded.  
  
Rameses thought that he even knew what was going through her mind. The Elysium Protocol wasn't intended to be needed for as long as it had been used, which was why there were so few as it was, and the Emergency Awakening made it fewer, but if the main power was at risk of failing, then she could see the logic behind it. Not that it made the losses any less painful. She had taken charge after everything and it became clear that The Empire was no more, making decisions that she didn't have had the authority to make. All to save as many as she could.  
  
If it hadn't taken so long, then they wouldn't have lost so many. Which meant that she would be asking another question.  
  
"I have a question, then," she said.  
  
"Yes, Lady Nemain?" Rameses asked, bracing himself for what he believed he knew was coming.  
  
"How long has it been?" She asked.  
  
Rameses blinked for a moment. "That's not... what I expected you to ask," he admitted. "Though that will probably come with what I am about to tell you, Lady Nemain."  
  
Nemain raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She asked.  
  
Rameses closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Lady Nemain, it's been approximately ten thousand years," he said as he opened them. "And before you ask why, no one on Aincrad knew. If we did, you can bet that the Governor-General would have deployed ships to do an evacuation. We have space on Aincrad, even now. Alfheim's currently still stuck in Jupiter's atmosphere and in a storm that makes sending ships off it a suicide mission, so they couldn't do anything. And Earth... well, things went to Tartarus there as well and they have been climbing out of a dark age since."  
  
"How bad?"  
  
"We completely lost everything," Mars said. "We didn't even rediscover writing until about six thousand years ago, and..." She sighed. "Earth's technology is only now beginning to approach what it had and we're still decades, if not centuries, away from even that."  
  
Nemain nodded. "And, if you're from Earth, then how did you come to the mantle of Guardian?" She asked.  
  
"Her Majesty arranged for The Princess, the Guardians and quite a few others to be reincarnated with some of their memories intact," Rameses said. "Well, mostly, it seems. And none of them have been able to come out and see if anything was left because they had been busy fighting for the last decade against the same thing that caused The Fall." He looked at Mars.  
  
"That's more or less correct," Mars said. "The Princess and the Guardian of Saturn were the last ones to Awaken their memories and power, and that was recently. Even then, they were caught up in one of the Dark Kingdom's plots, so they weren't able to assist us until a few months ago." She then smirked. "And they got allies, so the threat is over with."  
  
Nemain let out a breath, "So, it won't be repeated then," she said in clear relief.  
  
"Mars, I am going to send a couple of messages out," Rameses said. "We're going to need to get everyone off planet. I don't know if the Biofields will maintain themselves without your constant presence, and our supply situation is likely to go lower before long."  
  
Mars looked at him. "Do it," she said. "And I'm going to have to head back to Phobos Castle to see if there's anything we can use in the meantime."  
  
"There should be some beacons," Nemain said.  
  
Mars nodded.


	7. Saturn Episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei heads to Phobos Castle, and Persephone heads to Aincrad. She learns of a hard choice made in light of how things were back then.

**Mars Orbit - Phobos Castle**  
  
Mars reappeared on Phobos Castle and wondered where to go for a moment before a flash of memory told her exactly where she needed to go. _This is going to take some getting used to,_ she thought. _Thessonia didn't trigger anything for me, was it because I was in a hurry?_ She shook her head. There wasn't a point in wondering about it right now. There could be a number of reasons, and with the exception of Asuna and Persephone, most of them had little recall of their past lives, flashes of memory at best. Disconcerting when they happened, but not the flood of memories that Asuna had said she had to deal with at first.  
  
Perhaps it was the familiarity that SAO invoked? Maybe. And perhaps her coming here and going to Thessonia would awaken more. Some things were beginning to come to her just from meeting people, after all. Lady Nemain gave her mind an impression of a girl who was beginning to blossom into the woman she became, though far less care worn and tired. There was also a sense of fondness. _Think about it later,_ she told herself. "Ares, what's the status of Thessonia Biofield?" she asked.  
  
"WELCOME BACK, GUARDIAN MARS," the AI replied. "THESSONIA BIOFIELD HAS RISEN FROM CONDITION BLUE TO CONDITION GREEN. IT IS ADVISED THAT YOU RETURN TO THESSONIA AND REMAIN THERE FOR A AT LEAST FIVE MORE HOURS TO PROPERLY STABILIZE IT."  
  
Mars nodded. "How long will it require to reach nominal status?" She asked.  
  
"AT CURRENT STATE, IT WOULD REQUIRE YOUR CONTINUED PRESENCE FOR THREE DAYS TO RETURN TO NOMINAL CONDITION," Ares replied.  
  
_Well, now I know what that pull on my power was,_ she thought. _But for it to rise up that much in a few hours... well, from failing to simply in bad shape if what I think Condition Green would mean here on Mars at least, in only a few hours... just how much of my power was it draining? It didn't feel like much. Are my reserves really that deep as the Senshi of Mars? Forget that, I need to see if we have beacons._ "Ares, Rameses Soulfire is currently making arrangements for supplies to be transported. Do we have any beacons we can use to teleport supplies from Earth to here? Also, so that any ships from Aincrad can home in. We're evacuating the survivors."  
  
"I SEE... HOW MANY SURVIVORS?"  
  
"All of them," Mars replied.  
  
**Aincrad - Skarlet Pyales**  
  
"Princess Persephone, it's a surprise that you're back so soon," Selene said, keeping her expression and posture calm.  
  
"I apologize for this, Governor-General, but we have a bit of a situation," Persephone said.  
  
"What kind of situation?" Selene asked, readying herself to hear the worst.  
  
"It's not a bad one, if that's what you're wondering," Persephone reassured her. "Well, not yet at least."  
  
_Yet?_ Selene wondered. "Please, tell me the situation, then," she said.  
  
Persephone nodded. "Well, Rei, she's Princess Badb's reincarnation, has a talent for Divination, and did one recently," she explained. "We don't know what it was she saw, as she didn't tell us, or Rameses for that matter, but she grabbed him and the two of them have spent the last several hours on Mars."  
  
"What for?" Selene asked as she got out of her seat.  
  
"They found survivors of The Fall," Persephone replied. "And it was cutting it close, from what I've been told."  
  
"How many?" Selene asked.  
  
"About two thousand, from what I've been told," Persephone replied. "At least, those were the ones still alive."  
  
Selene looked shocked. _Two thousand?_ She thought. _But how? I know that our own systems managed to last this long only because we rotated those in stasis, allowing us to repair and refurbish the pods. And... wait. Two thousand alive, but out of how many? Goddesses._  
  
"I think I know why you're here now," she said. "You need supplies, as you don't know what their current supply situation is. Best to assume that nothing was kept in stasis this long, as they would have been considered less essential than keeping people alive." She opened her Mystic Tome and quickly sent a message to Captain General Eldurlag, telling him to meet with her at the main depot in Algade. "Let's go, we will meet with Makan in Algade."  
  
**Algade**  
  
Makan stood when the Governor-General and Princess Persephone walked into the meeting room. "Governor-General, Princess Persephone, what's going on?" He asked.  
  
"It seems as if Specialist Soulfire is adding to his list of accomplishments," Selene replied. "I have been informed by Princess Persephone that he and Princess Badb's reincarnation just Awakened two thousand survivors of The Fall on Mars."  
  
Makan blinked. "Two thousand?!" He asked in shock. "How the fu- pardon me. How?"  
  
"I wasn't given a lot of details, but apparently Mars had something akin to what you had here, if less... robust," Persephone said. "Two thousand survivors, out of who knows how many went into stasis."  
  
Something was tickling the back of Makan's mind. In the years following the fall, they had received numerous beacon contacts that they had investigated. Most were nothing, just emergency beacons doing their jobs, but the signals were usually only leading to corpse filled ruins and ships. It was rare to find survivors, though there were a few cases. But what if...? He pressed a button on the comm he brought with him.  
  
"Yes, Captain General?" Came the voice of Reivara Andulli, his secretary.  
  
"Miss Andulli, tell Colonel Rivarin to pull the records of any beacon contacts we may have received from Mars in the decade following The Fall," he ordered.  
  
"He will wish to know why, sir," Reivara said on her end.  
  
Makan took a breath. "Any beacon contacts we may have received were, in all likelihood, a legitimate call for help," he said.  
  
"Goddesses, you mean...?"  
  
"Yes," Makan replied. "And the Guardian of Mars found survivors. We're still getting more information as we can, but we have two thousand survivors accounted for right now." He then went over what else needed to be done. They would need to arrange transport, medical support and supplies. "Next, I want you to also get in contact with Admiral Virellin and tell her to meet with me as soon as she's available. Then, I want you to inform Healer Hakonia Fjensdottir that she is going to need to set up a quarrantine zone and assemble teams to examine two thousand survivors we are going to be transporting here. I also need you to tell Major Suren to open Storage Warehouse Three."  
  
"Understood, sir," Reivara replied.  
  
"Good, Eldulag out." He then looked at Selene and Persephone. "Princess Persephone, I am assuming that your purpose here is to let us know about this and grab what supplies you can. Come, let's go to Warehouse Three then. That's where we keep bulk food supplies, field kitchens, a few portable refresher units, and bulk issue clothing in case of emergencies."  
  
Persephone looked at him in amazement. "Yes," she replied. "And you are already working to make arrangements for everything else I was going to request as well." Makan could hear the awe in her voice.  
  
_Ah, the benefit of impressing the young,_ he thought to himself. In her previous life, she would have already known that he would be doing just this as soon as he got word of survivors, but that was the benefit of her predecessor having three decades of working with him and his predecessor, and having participated in several drills and two actual emergency operations of a similar nature. Her current incarnation was much younger and, despite having her previous life's memories, lacked the experience and training that Princess Persephone Iolanthe Antonea had. At least she had the wisdom to defer to those who did have that experience, if what he learned about her working with Hakonia on treating two patients was any indication.  
  
"I was made Captain General of the Royal Guard for a reason," he said. "And after this... you may want to have the other Guardians go out and check their domains in case of other survivors. And once this is done, I will need to talk with Princess Serenity and Heathcliff's reincarnations personally."  
  
"Why?" Persephone asked.  
  
"If we received word from Mars about this, then the reason we didn't send anyone was because of a call I made," Makan replied. "Any deaths are on my hands. Thus, I want to talk with them about removing me from my position and placing Major General Rendari Alsten, my Second in Command, in charge while it is investigated and any disciplinary actions are deliberated. Rendari's a good man, and he vehemently disagreed with me when I made the decision to cease sending ships and parties out to investigate beacon transmissions."


	8. Relief Efforts Begin

**Aincrad - Algade**  
  
Selene looked at the Captain General, who was showing how holding the position for so long had taken its toll on him. He would be the first to admit that, had The Fall not happened, he would have happily retired years ago. He had been grooming Major General Alsten for the position at the Queen's Consent because he had been planning to retire in a few years. In fact, the main reason the Major General was in his position despite the fact that he could often disagree with Makan was _because_ of that willingness to disagree with him, though any and all such disagreements were never public. Once a decision was reached, he followed his orders like the professional he was.  
  
She knew about the end of Search and Rescue operations, she had her own doubts about the wisdom of his doing so, but had left the decision to him. Perhaps she should have argued the matter, though she doubted he would have changed his stance. Makan wasn't a man who backed down from a decision without strong evidence that he was in the wrong. Had such evidence turned up, he would admit that he was wrong and reverse the decision. It was what made him one of the best men to hold the position of Captain General, his willingness to accept that not all of his decisions will be correct.  
  
She remembered a quote from Queen Cerridwen the Great: "The best leaders are never the ones who are always right, they are the ones who are willing to accept that they can be wrong. Those who are have the final word are not infallible." (1)  
  
"Captain General, are... are you sure?" Persephone asked.  
  
Makan nodded. "Yes, Princess Persephone," he replied. "I made the call and I have to be held accountable for it. While it is investigated, I can't hold my current position, and the Mars survivors are going to want answers. This is why I am having the beacon transmissions in the years after The Fall being pulled up and looked at. Once they are, and if it is confirmed that we did receive such transmissions from Mars, they will be handed over to Internal Affairs for the purpose of investigation. The Princess and Captain Heathcliff have to be notified of this. The reason I wish to speak with them is because, regardless of the investigation's findings and any subsequent disciplinary actions, I intend to retire and with for them to review the records of those who I think would be the most suited for the position. Major General Alsten is one of them, but there are other candidates and the decision for succession is _never_ the Captain General's."  
  
Persephone nodded. "I will inform them," she said.  
  
"Thank you," Makan said. "Now, we have a lot to do so let's see what supplies we can pry from my Quartermaster first."  
  
**Earth - Hikawa Shrine**  
  
It was almost midnight when Persephone teleported back to Earth to see Asuna, Kirito and Heathcliff waiting for her.  
  
"How did it go, Persephone?" Asuna asked.  
  
"I managed to get enough relief supplies and we can start ferrying them to Mars immediately," she replied. "Aincrad is preparing ships and medical staff to begin evacuation. I was told that it will take them three days before they can send the transport ships out and that the transit time to Mars will take about seven hours once they begin. I was not told precisely how long the evacuation will take, but I was told that it will take several days to a week once it begins. On Aincrad, they are preparing a quarrantine zone for the refugees and everyone participating in the evacuation while they make sure that everyone checks out medically."  
  
"Ah, they're using standard refugee protocols then," Heathcliff said. At everyone's look he shrugged. " _His_ memories informed me of this while Persephone was saying what was already in the works. Since we have two thousand people being transported, and we are trying to do so as soon as possible, the usual elements of transporting people between worlds, which has the majority of that done before they leave, much like foreign travel here on Earth, aren't practical. This will also include any of us who participate in this, even if the extent of is is us ferrying supplies."  
  
Asuna nodded. "That also limits who we can send," she said. "Kirito, send word out that we need volunteers who aren't in school, can use the storage function of the Mystic Tome and are free for up to two weeks for this and that I want them to be here as soon as possible. Competency in Lunarian is highly recommended, but not mandatory. Persephone, as soon as we get people and they are briefed on what they'll be doing. I want you to transfer what you have to them and I will send a message to Rameses so that Badb can come back and take them with her. Things are stabilizing enough on Mars that we aren't as pressed for time as I had thought we would be, but I want this to get done sooner, rather than later."  
  
Kirito typed out the message and sent it. "Done, Hime," he said.  
  
"Asuna," Persephone said. "There is one other thing that I was asked to pass on. For both you and Captain Heathcliff."  
  
"I have a feeling I won't like this, but what is it," Asuna said with a sigh.  
  
"I was asked by Captain General Eldurlag to tell you both that as soon as the operation is complete, he needs to speak with you," she explained.  
  
"What does he wish to discuss with us, Persephone?" Heathcliff asked.  
  
Persephone took a breath. "He is having Aincrad's communications logs looked over, seeing if any beacon signals from Mars were received and if there was anything of substance from them," she explained. "He made the decision to stop Search and Rescue operations before they began their stasis rotations and is temporarily stepping down in favor of his Second in Command while it gets investigated. Even if nothing is found or it is determined that he wasn't acting in the wrong based on the circumstances, he intends to retire and wishes to go over who he thinks are the best candidates to succeed him so that you two can make a decision."  
  
"I see," Heathcliff said. "Asuna, he is aware that the survivors on Mars are going to want answers, which is why he is doing this. He fully expects to be held accountable for his decision. Even if the investigation turns up no wrongdoing on his end, a decision to retire in light of events would still be the right call to make." (2)  
  
"And if it was determined that he was in the wrong for making that decision?" Asuna asked.  
  
"Then at the very least, he will need to be relieved for cause," Heathcliff said with a sigh. "He knows this and accepts it. And with the rotations, depending on when he went into stasis, he or his Second in Command would have still been Awake during that decade if any clear message was received."  
  
Asuna sighed and nodded.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Two hours later, they had almost the entire Fuurinkazan show up along with Luna and several others.  
  
"So, what's going on that you needed volunteers at two in the morning?" Klein asked. "Or why we need to have clear schedules for the next two or so weeks?"  
  
"Before you ask, I am free for the next few weeks," Luna said. "The Osa-P is going to be closed for some renovations while Naru and Osaka-mama are on vacation. They're being done by the same ones who renovated the Dicey Cafe, meaning we will have proper facilities for blacksmithing and jewel crafting."  
  
Asuna nodded. "Good," she said. "Everyone, I have some news. We found survivors of The Fall."  
  
"Really?" Luna asked excitedly. "That's great! How many?"  
  
"About two thousand, give or take," Asune replied. "Commander, time to brief them."  
  
Kirito nodded. "Before you ask, they're not on Earth," he said. "They're on Mars, where Rameses and Rei have been since yesterday. We have been in contact with them, along with Aincrad, and we need people to bring them the supplies we managed to get from Aincrad. The reason you needed to be free for two weeks is because once you arrive there, you will be staying there until they are picked up by transport being sent from Aincrad and going with them to be medically checked out. Persephone will be going there daily after ten days, when getting everyone to Aincrad is expected to be done, so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a little longer." He gave them a smirk. "So, who's up for a little trip?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Princess Serenity's grandmother, the queen before Queen Serenity. She spent the entirety of her rule undoing the diplomatic damage the three queens before her did to the Silver Empire, ending a period where it constantly had threats both real and imagined at its doorstep. Take some of the worst fanon aspects of the Silver Millennium and you get the Queens in the three generations preceding Cerridwen. Not all the rulers of the Silver Empire were Good and Just, let alone necessarily sane, in any respect save their own minds.
> 
> 2\. Even if nothing is found, he would wish to step down due to the tragic consequences of his decision. He knows that, in the end, the decision was his and that he could be wrong even in the light of the available information and evidence he had.


	9. Help Arrives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Help has come. With food, clothing, shelter and, very importantly, showers.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Rameses was woken up by the sound of the chiming indicating he had a message. A quick check of the time on his Mystic Tome showed that it was too damn early, but if he got a message, he better answer it. He heard the growl of his stomach and grimaced. They had checked the supply stores and, unsurprisingly, found nothing usable. The water systems were working, so dehydration wasn't a concern, at least. As was being able to turn on the reserve power, which at least gave them some light, albeit dim light.  
  
He did have some food supplies in his own storage, well, _had_ , and distributed them out to the children after cooking them up. It wasn't much, but the kids needed the food more than he did, He had plenty of kaf and sugar, which he distributed to everyone, which was better than nothing. It wasn't the first time he had to miss a meal or two. He could deal with it, even if he didn't like it.  
  
He opened the message and his eyes widened. He looked around the dimly lit room. Where was... there! He got up and gently picked Elerin up. His young cousin had basically glued herself to him when she realized that he was family, someone to cling to after losing so much. Making his way to Rei, who had dropped her transformation, he knelt down and gently shook her.  
  
"Rei, wake up," he quietly said.  
  
Rei grumbled and slowly sat up. "What is it, Rameses?" She asked groggily.  
  
"I just got a message from Asuna," he said. "Persephone went to Aincrad and got us some supplies as well as made arrangements to get everyone evacuated."  
  
Any grogginess Rei had disappeared with that information. "Tell them I will be there shortly," she said.  
  
"Is something the matter?" Came a woman's voice from nearby.  
  
Both Rameses and Rei turned to see Nemain walking up to them.  
  
"Lady Nemain," Rameses said. "We just got some information and Rei has to return to Earth. She's picking up foodstuffs and a few other things that were sent from Aincrad via Princess Persephone's reincarnation."  
  
Nemain nodded. "I see," she said as her stomach growled. "Military rations are not ideal, but food is food."  
  
Rameses handed Elerin to Rei and then opened his Mystic Tome to bring up the message he was sent. "From the message, she will be picking up some people as well to help with distributing everything," he said. "Ah, three field kitchens, enough food and clothing for everyone, and some portable 'fresher units so we can all remain clean. They'll be staying here until the pickup from Aincrad arrives and going with us to be medically checked out as well." He read them message further. "And the information they got is saying that transport should be arriving in three days."  
  
Rei handed a waking Elerin back to Rameses. "Good," she said and then transformed into Guardian Mars. "Rameses, Nemain, we'll want to get everyone outside so we can put up everything. Rameses, I also want you waiting outside here so you can brief everyone when we arrive. Nemain, the people I will be bringing don't speak Graelic and I won't know how many are conversant in Lunarian, will communication be a problem?"  
  
"We'll manage, Guardian Mars," Nemain replied. "A number of people know enough Lunarian to get by, we were required to learn it in school, after all."  
  
Mars nodded. "That will have to do then," she said. "I shouldn't be more than a couple of hours."  
  
With that said, she teleported.  
  
"Well then, let's get to it," Rameses said as he put Elerin down. His young cousin rubbed her eyes drowsily.  
  
"Agreed," Nemain said. "You and your charge will be with the first group through."  
  
Rameses nodded. "Understood, ma'am," he replied.  
  
**Earth - Tokyo, Hikawa Shrine**  
  
Asuna gratefully took the tea that Kebechet handed her. The message had been sent, Persephone had unloaded everything she had gotten from Aincrad, which was far more than anyone expected, and it was all divvied up and put into the storage spaces of everyone. All that was left was to wait for Mars to return and pick everyone up.  
  
"Stupid Rameses," Kebechet muttered. "He could have left a message."  
  
Asuna nodded. "But you understand why he hadn't," she said. "This isn't like how he ended up here, Rei had done a divination. grabbed him and they both found survivors."  
  
"I know that, but he disappeared on me once before." The Spriggan replied. "I can't help but worry about him. After everything, his parents took me in and adopted me, and after their stasis pods failed, he was the only family I had left."  
  
"A family that has grown since," Asuna noted. "Your brother turned out to be alive, Yomi is your sister in law, and Umi is absolutely adorable. And now, it's growing by one more."  
  
Kebechet nodded. "Yeah, a cousin of his was found alive," she said. "But she was the only one of his blood family to survive. Knowing him, he's holding it together right now for her, but it won't last. _Damn it._ I know I my biological family is still going strong, Rau- Makoto mentioned it to me and my brother. We're not the last of our family line. Rameses... he's been living with the knowledge that he was the last since he was eleven. To go to Mars and see that others survived The Fall, but died in stasis, leaving only a little girl who was an infant the last time he saw her? He's going to break down soon enough. Either when he has some privacy if he can manage it, he's like that, or when he sees to everyone else's remains. I've had to cremate my parents twice, but he's now having to do it for virtually his entire extended family." She looked out over the shrine's grounds. "I hope they're bringing priests or chaplains with the rescue ships."  
  
"To see to the dead?" Asuna asked.  
  
Kebechet nodded. "Yes," she replied. "If only to ensure that none of Thessonia's dead come back as Hollows."  
  
Asuna nodded in agreement. She had a feeling that doing so was going to be a grim duty that would have to be done over the entirety of the fallen empire's holdings for the next several years, if not decades. Along with putting who knew how many Hollows who were wandering the Empire's ruins to rest.  
  
And if anyone sounded eager for that particular duty, she was going to remand them to the psychologists.  
  
She saw the flash of light that signaled a teleport and quickly finished her tea. "Kebechet, get everyone and have them come outside," she ordered. "It's time we did our part for the survivors on Mars."  
  
"Yes, Princess," Kebechet replied as she stood up and headed further inside. "Wake up chuckleheads, you got work to do! _"_  
  
**< <>>**  
  
As soon as her vision cleared Mars saw Asuna coming out to meet her. "Princess," she said respectfully.  
  
"Mars, how's the situation?" Asuna asked.  
  
"Outside of the fact that we definitely need the food Persephone got from Aincrad, not as bad as we feared," Mars replied. "It's bad enough, but the biofield around Thessonia is stable and me being there until the evacuation is completed should fully restore it. Before I left, I told Rameses and Lady Nemain, she's the one who took charge of the survivors after The Fall, begin to move everyone outside, The _Pýli Sidírou's_ grounds are fairly clear of debris and we're going to need the room with all the supplies that you said you're sending."  
  
Asuna nodded. "Kebechet's inside getting everyone who will be going with you," she said. "She's staying here, though. She wasn't happy when I told her that, but she accepted that I want her here on Earth."  
  
Mars nodded. "That's actually what I was going to suggest," she said. "With her and Rameses effectively being Aincrad's representatives to us, one of them has to stay here."  
  
"Exactly," Asuna agreed. "By the way, how is Rameses?"  
  
"He's holding it in for Elerin's sake, but he's taking the loss of family hard," Mars replied. "Don't be surprised if he brings her with him once we're done with this."  
  
"Elerin, so that's her name?" Asuna asked.  
  
Mars nodded.  
  
Asuna got thoughtful. "Is he even able to look after a child?" She asked.  
  
"We'll find out," Mars replied. "But my grandfather is likely to be more than happy to help. He likes kids." She heard a commotion coming from the residence and turned her attention to it just in time for Klein to walk out followed by the others. "More than I expected."  
  
"If you need to do it in a few trips, do so," Asuna said.  
  
Mars nodded. "All right everyone, gather around," she said. "We may have to do this in more than one trip, but let me see if I can take you all. The fewer trips I have to ma- _Usagi?_! _What are you doing here?!_ "  
  
"I'm coming along the help," Luna replied. "Don't worry about work, the Osa-P's closed for renovations right now, I have the time."  
  
Mars shook her head. "This isn't just for fun you know," she said.  
  
Luna got a serious expression on her face. "I know, Rei," she replied. "I'm still coming."  
  
Mars nodded. "Okay then," she said. "Anyway, regardless of how many trips it takes, I will be transporting you to the _Pýli Sidírou_ in Thessonia. It's a large compound inside the city and is more intact that the rest of the place. Everyone there should be leaving the sealed facility they spent their time in stasis at, so don't be surprised if you see people coming to where we will be setting everything up. Rameses will be meeting us there and he will brief you all on what's up. Now, we have two thousand people to help, so let's get this started."  
  
**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Klein wearily sat down at one of the folding tables that had been set up near one the field kitchens, holding a tray of food and a steaming cup of their tea equivalent. They had been busy as soon as they arrived as Rameses quickly took charge of them and had them pull out everything they had brought with them so he could sort out what was what. As soon as he did so, he grabbed a few of the survivors and had them work with him and the others to set up the field kitchens set up and get food cooking. The Lunarian they spoke had an interesting accent, and they often lapsed into another language entirely, but communication wasn't as much of a problem as he feared it would be.  
  
It was clear that Rameses' first priority was to get people fed before setting everything else up.  
  
After that, five hours of setting up the portable showers, digging latrines far enough away from the where the tent city was being established, and working on getting the shelters put up before they took a break for lunch and then back to it all. Fortunately, as more people came out, the speed of getting the shelters set up, power generators brought online, and a lot various things like cots, blankets and clean clothing distributed to everyone began to go faster, but it still felt like he hadn't had the time to sit down for more than grabbing a quick meal all day.  
  
"Mind if we sit here?" Rameses asked as he and the little girl who had been with him the entire day approached.  
  
"Go right ahead," Klein replied as he looked at the food in front of him. He didn't know what it was, but the taste reminded him of some of the things he ate in SAO. He took a bite of the meat. Much like lunch, it wasn't that bad. Not gourmet cooking, but still good enough to eat. He eagerly dug into the food.  
  
" _Elerin, vevaiotheíte óti tróte ta pánta,_ " Rameses said to the girl. (1)  
  
Elerin gave the food a suspicious look. " _Prépei na?_ " She asked. (2)  
  
" _Nai,_ " Rameses replied. (3)  
  
Elerin gave the food one more suspicious look before taking an experimental bite. And then another. And then another.  
  
"Say, Rameses, who's the kid?" Klein asked.  
  
Rameses looked at her, watching her eat before turning to Klein. "My cousin," he replied. "She was... the only one of my family to survive."  
  
Klein winced. "Shit man, I'm sorry," he said. "But at least you have family that survived, right?"  
  
Rameses nodded. "Yeah, there is that," he agreed before getting quiet. "Anyway, once we are done, we still have a few more shelters to set up. Ours. Rei, Luna and Elerin will get one. The rest will be for us guys. Think you and the others can get to it after dinner?"  
  
"Sure man," Klein replied. "What will you be doing?"  
  
"Working with Lady Nemain and Rei on getting everyone else situated," Rameses replied. "After that, I'm taking a shower and seeing if we can get Elerin to bed before I turn in for the night. We're going to have another long day tomorrow."  
  
"What will we be doing tomorrow?" Klein asked.  
  
"You and the others will be helping out up here," Rameses replied. "But me and Rei will be assisting Lady Nemain and some others with something far more difficult."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Accounting for all the dead still in the stasis facility and begin planning funerary arrangements."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> 1\. Elerin, make sure you eat everything.
> 
> 2\. Do I have to?
> 
> 3\. Yes.


	10. Nemain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Nemain wonders if she made the right decision, and gets a shock when she learns that Rei is a reincarnation.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
"Rei, Lady Nemain, how is getting everyone situated going?" Rameses asked as he walked up to the two women with Elerin in tow.  
  
Both women turned to look at him.  
  
"It's going well enough that we should be finished in a couple of hours," Nemain replied. "We're trying to keep families together, though a lot of them lost their entire families."  
  
Rameses nodded. "I know," he said. "Right now, they're trying to keep everything together while we take stock. But it won't last and it'll hit them, hard. I was five when The Fall happened, but I remember how the first year after it was like on Aincrad."  
  
"How bad was it?" Nemain asked.  
  
"Bad enough," Rameses replied. "It took a year to get everything settled. My parents took in a Spriggan girl during that time who saw her parents killed that day. By the time everything settled, they adopted her and I gained a sister, Kebechet. It wasn't uncommon for children who lost family to get fostered and sometimes adopted by those families that were still intact. Faerie children adopted by humans, humans adopted by Faeries, Faeries and humans marrying. A lot of things that weren't exactly common before The Fall became more common on Aincrad while things got stabilized."  
  
Nemain nodded. "So any beacon communications would have gotten lost in the shuffle during that first year," she said.  
  
"That's if they reached us and were clearly definable if they did," Rameses said. "Considering that these supplies came from Aincrad, you can bet that Captain General Eldurlag is going to be scouring the logs to see if we did receive any such communications and _when_."  
  
"Why when?" Nemain asked.  
  
"Lady Nemain, we started our stasis rotations two years after The Fall, though from what I've heard, it took a decade to really get the rotation routine we used going. When we weren't in stasis, and it was never a significant portion of Aincrad's population at any given time, we would spend two years out of stasis and then could spend anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand years in stasis. We've had failures, some of them large scale. My parents died in one, and the entire rotation system was discontinued less than a year ago due to another one."  
  
Nemain closed her eyes. "Then the decision I made was-"  
  
"No, Nemain, you made the right decision," Rei said. "You didn't know how long it would be, or if you would ever be brought out of stasis, or even survive, but you did it because even a remote chance is still better than none."  
  
Rameses nodded in agreement.  
  
"Thank you," Nemain said. "By the way, that one young woman I saw arrive with those from Earth. She looks a lot like Princess Serenity probably would had she lived."  
  
Rei laughed. "She does, doesn't she?" She asked. "You should have seen her in her teens, she was a dead ringer for her. Most of us thought she was Princess Serenity's reincarnation because of it."  
  
"Reincarnation?" Nemain asked. "Wait... how many of you were...?"  
  
"All of the Guardians," Rei replied, clearly knowing what Nemain was about to ask.  
  
"All of- _Badb?!_ " Nemain asked in shock. She then looked more closely at Rei, "You do look a lot like her, though you're clearly Humiren. Somewhat finer features as well, but... it's you, isn't it?"  
  
Rei nodded. "It is, though my memories of my past life aren't the best," she said. "My training as a priestess helped with dealing with the ones that did come back and I taught the others some meditation techniques to help them process them, which probably kept us from being hit as badly by them as well. I heard from both Asuna and Persephone how when their memories hit, they hit like a flood for them and neither liked the experience. They were the last to awaken to their memories and roles."  
  
"I see," Nemain said. "When all of this is settled and I have a chance, I think I would like to visit where you grew up in this life. To meet and thank those who raised my older sister's reincarnation so well."  
  
"That would be her grandfather," Rameses said.  
  
"Then I would like to meet and thank him some day," Nemain said.  
  
"I think he would like that," Rei said. "Though don't be surprised if he asks if you would like to become a shrine maiden. He's a bit of a dirty old man, though he knows better than to do more than look."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An explanation of terminology.
> 
> There was more than one species of human in the Empire. Humiren are, of course, modern humans. Syveri are Denisovans. Andallin are Neanderthals. And Elves, yes, they're a species of human here, are one that came about because of, what even those during that era see as magical bullshit, some thirty thousand years ago involving the Erenni, an extinct species of human (Homo heidelbergensis).


	11. Rescue Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations for the rescue operation are underway in Aincrad and Klein gets a good idea of just how many died before Rameses and Rei arrived.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Dynamm found Luna happily handing out some of the snacks she had managed to fit into her storage, along with a whole host of toys and stuffed animals, to various children and smiled. The Silver Army's Jewelry Bunny was showing how good she was with kids here. She had pitched in with setting everything up yesterday, but had quickly been tasked by Rei with helping with the children. A snarky remark that she was more of an adult child may have been made, but Luna had gone over and done so. Despite the communication issues, not all of the people they were helping spoke Lunarian, she was quickly chatting with several of the adults who were also watching the children like they were old friends.  
  
It was pure Luna to be honest. Her friendly nature wouldn't let something like a language barrier get in the way.  
  
And keeping her watching the kids reassured him. Klein had gone with Rei and Rameses to help the one in charge, he thought her name was Nemain, and several others with cataloguing the dead and to begin to make arrangements. His friend looked like he had aged a decade when he came out several hours later, with a stone faced Rameses helping him get food and sit down.  
  
"There were... those out here are what survived," Klein had said. "There were _thousands_ in there."  
  
"I did warn you," Rameses said quietly. "Just be glad that they died peacefully. And be glad that as many survived as did."  
  
"Right," Klein said. "I... saw you near several. People you knew?"  
  
Rameses nodded. "Family," he replied. "I... needed to know." He looked back to where everyone had been kept in stasis. "And now I do and wish I didn't." He slammed his fist onto the tabletop. " _Damn it_. If we only knew about this back then. This... wouldn't have happened."  
  
Dynamm looked at Rameses. He would admit that he didn't know the young man well at all. He knew that Rameses came from Aincrad and was a witness of The Fall. That his arrival on Earth resulted in him staying at the Hikawa Shrine, he had a Spriggan sister, and was apparently in the early stages of a budding relationship with Silica. He wondered how Lind and the rest of the DDA were coping with the fact that their surrogate Little Sister was, in fact, growing up. Oh, and what he's done since he arrived on Earth.

Which was quite a series of accomplishments, showing that he was a capable enough fighter in his own right and his killing of Zoicite, the very Shitennou that he, Dynamm, was the reincarnation of.  
  
_Which given what we know about what happened with our past selves, says more than anyone should think,_ he thought to himself. Zoicite may not have been entirely rational or working with his full skill set, but killing him was still no small accomplishment.

But looking at Rameses now, Dynamm was reminded that for all of that, he was still a kid himself. The fact that Mars had any survivors on it at all would have given him a wary hope, and he did find one family member alive among the survivors. But she was the only one.  
  
_He's barely keeping it together,_ Dynamm realized.  
  
**Aincrad - Algade**  
  
Captain General Makan Aldursson Eldurlag looked over the preliminary findings from the records of the comms traffic from the beacons and put it down. _So, any signals we did receive from In-System were too garbled and distorted due to the damage to the Network even then,_ he thought. _Not that it won't be further investigated. I gave clear orders that Internal Affairs will receive these same records and I will personally submit a copy of what I received to them to make sure. Just because we never found out about this doesn't mean anything. Ignorance is never an excuse._  
  
His comm chimed. "Sir, Major General Alsten is here," his secretary said.  
  
"Send him in," he said.  
  
It was but a few moments before Major General Rendari Alsten entered the office. "Sir, why did you request my presence?" He asked without preamble.  
  
"Take a seat, Rendari , you will want to be sitting with what I am about to tell you," Makan replied.  
  
Rendari blinked but did so. "Sir- Makan, what's going on?" He asked. "It's not like you to use personal names when we're on duty,"  
  
Makan sighed. "Remember when you argued against my order to cease sending ships out to check beacon contacts?" He asked.  
  
"I do," Renadri replied. "Granted, I had my own doubts that we would find anyone alive by that point, but I believed and still do believe that we should have continued to check, or at least do a full sweep of the system before stopping, regardless. And even if I agreed with you, I would have played Chaos' Advocate and advised that we continue. But the decision was made, and I made sure that your orders were carried out, regardless of my thoughts on the matter."  
  
Makan nodded. Despite the fact that he and his Second in Command disagreed on things more than a few times, once an order was given and a decision was finalized, he made sure it was carried out regardless of his opinions on it. It wouldn't stop him from disagreeing with his superior and making that disagreement clear, though in private, which was why Makan never sought to replace him. It was the hallmark of a good immediate subordinate, whose job wasn't just to carry out orders, but to offer alternative viewpoints on a course of action.  
  
It was why he hoped that the reincarnation pf Heathcliff and the Princess agreed with him that Rendari would be the most suited to succeed him, regardless of how the investigation went.  
  
"Well, I think you will find it bitterly pleasing to know, you were right," he said. "Guardian Mars' reincarnation and Specialist Rameses Soulfire found two thousand survivors of The Fall in the ruins of Thessonia."  
  
"Two thousand?" Rendari asked in shock. "After ten thousand years?" His eyes widened. "Goddesses, if they found two thousand, how many didn't survive?"  
  
"That, we don't know," Makan replied. "But we will find out soon enough. Arrangements are already underway for the survivors of Mars to be picked up, and I sent supplies with Princess Persephone from Warehouse Three to ensure that they don't have to worry about certain things before they get picked up. Once they are situated... this matter, specifically myself, will be investigated. At that point, I will be recusing myself from my position while the matter is investigated and determinations are made."  
  
"And regardless of if you are cleared, you will be retiring in light of the investigation," Rendari concluded.  
  
Makan nodded. "Exactly," he said. "The survivors are going to want answers, and my stepping down in light of a call I made even if the findings are in my favor should help with integrating them." He sighed. "Not that being cleared will make me feel any less guilty that I made that decision."  
  
Rendari gave him a somber nod. "So, what do you want me to do?" He asked.  
  
"I want you to be a part of the relief force, so you should get in contact with Admiral Virellin, who will have operational command of this endeavor, and meet with her," Makan replied. "You were right that I should have held off on stopping when I did, and I believe that it would benefit the survivors that the man who tried to push that we continue was there to rescue them." He gave a grim smile. "It's a bit late, but now that we know, we have a duty to them to take them in."  
  
Rendari nodded. "What are we bringing then?" He asked.  
  
**< <>>  
  
Docking Area One**  
  
Vice Admiral Elstanna Virellin looked at the status of the preparations and nodded. It wasn't going as quickly as she wished, getting enough transports ready after their being effectively mothballed for so long, even with regular maintenance, wasn't a quick process. But everything was proceeding apace and they should meet the timetable she said they would, give or take a day. She had accepted and agreed with the order to cease Search and Rescue operations. They hadn't found any survivors after the first few months, so all the evidence indicated that there _weren't_ any more survivors.  
  
The evidence was wrong, given what she knew now, but at the time, she agreed with the evidence. It was hard not to after dozens of times investigating a beacon comm and only finding only corpses when they arrived.  
  
That was then, though. Now, they knew that there were survivors they had to evacuate to Aincrad, and she was going to make sure that they arrived safely.  
  
She checked her schedule and noted that she had a meeting with Healer Hakonia in two hours. Probably to go over the composition of the medical teams and get a manifest on the medical supplies being sent along with the transports. Knowing the Undine, she was going to have more personnel and supplies sent than was strictly necessary to better ensure that everyone was as healthy as they could be _before_ they came to Aincrad in order to minimize the time they would have to spend in quarantine.  
  
Then she had a meeting at the Temple to talk with Grand Vicar Relan to arrange for priests so that they could see to the spiritual needs of the survivors. And to see to the dead.  
  
She was getting maybe four hours of sleep a night with all the preparations and coordination, but it was worth it.  
  
"I see you're busy as expected, Elstanna," came the voice of Major General Rendari Alsten from behind.  
  
She turned to face the Andallin man who was the Captain General's 2IC. "And what do you expect, Rendari?" She asked. "Getting enough transports in working order with what we have docked here is taking a lot of work. My engineers and mechanics are good, but everything was mothballed. Even with the regular maintenance, half of what we have is worth little more than scrap these days, spare parts if we're lucky. And we would need to be out of Saturn's atmosphere to build new ships from that scrap _after_ we broke them down to their component resources." She sighed. "But you didn't come here to hear me bitch about what we have. I take it that the Captain General is placing you in charge of the ground forces contingent?"  
  
Rendari nodded. "I am," he replied. "I was the one who argued that we shouldn't have ceased when we did, and he wants me to be there."  
  
Elstanna nodded. "And how do you feel, knowing you were right?" She asked.  
  
Rendari sighed. "Not as satisfied as you would think, given how vehemently I disagreed with the Captain General's decision," he replied. "A decision you supported, I recall. But, what's done is done. We have two thousand people to bring here. I am already going over which units are available to be assigned to this operation and will have a list ready for you by tomorrow. Now, is there anything else from my end that you need?"  
  
"If you know what their supply situation is and what we will need, along with how many people you're bringing, that would be helpful," Elstanna said. "I will need to know how much we're bringing with us so I can make sure I have enough transports to pick everyone up and bring them back in one trip. I got the preliminary number of survivors we will be picking up and am planning to have enough transport space to carry twenty-five percent more along with what we're bringing."  
  
Rendari nodded. "I will have all the information when I bring you the information on what units I am bringing," he said.  
  
"Good," Estanna replied.


	12. Preparing for Arrival

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Thessonia Spaceport**  
  
Rameses set the portable beacon up and activated the power. The floatilla of transport ships would have exact coordinates to land, which should hopefully reduce how much more time they spent in this Ghost City.  
  
He and the Silver Army people had spent several hours the day before that sweeping the entire spaceport and the path to it didn't have any unwanted residents. No Hollows were found or even sensed, the feeling of being watched by any of them was distinctive. Lady Nemain said that Thessonia's dead had been seen to before they all went into stasis, but neither he, nor the SA, were going to take it on blind faith. Not after encountering them in Praśāntate Samudra more than once.  
  
After that, it had taken them and over two dozen of the survivors most of yesterday to make sure that the path from the camp they set up to spaceport attached to the _Pýli Sidírou,_ not to mention the spaceport itself, was as properly clear of debris as they could manage. While nothing would properly threaten any of the transport ships, he didn't want any flying debris going around.  
  
It would be just their luck if a flying chunk of something hit the dome of the _Pýli Sidírou_ , went through it, and continued on at speed into the camp. Unlikely, but he wasn't going to take any chances.  
  
He looked around at Thessonia and shook his head. It had been ten thousand years, though he was only awake and out of stasis for ten of them, since he had last been to this city. He could still see some familiar landmarks, but the desolate and decaying state of it, not to mention the lack of life gave any familiarity he had an uncanny air. Much like the survivors, he didn't like seeing the city of his birth like this.  
  
He shook his head and walked back toward the _Pýli Sidírou_ after giving the spaceport one last look.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Rei looked up as Rameses walked over to her.  
  
"The beacon's set up," he said. "And the transports should arrive tonight if what Persephone's message said is true," he said. "So, in about four hours.  
  
Rei nodded. "Go and get something to eat then," she said.  
  
Rameses nodded and headed to where the field kitchens had been set up, Elerin breaking away from the children she had been playing with while he went out to set up the beacon and follow him. Rei watched as he stopped and picked her up before he continue to make his way to get some food.  
  
"She's going to have him wrapped around her finger," Nemain remarked in amusement, two steaming mugs in her hands.  
  
Rei took the one her previous life's sister held out to her and nodded. She took a deep sniff of the aroma, noting that it wasn't their version of coffee, or kaf as they called it. The scent was more... cinnamony, or something like that. A sip proved that the taste wasn't cinnamon, but it was still good. Also, the drink was warm. The temperatures weren't precisely cold, but they also weren't warm and it did get chilly at night.  
  
"So, he set up the beacon?" Nemain asked.  
  
Rei nodded. "And knowing him, he probably did one last sweep of the area just in case any Hollows turned up," she said.  
  
Nemain shook her head. "I made sure that we saw to... you know, before I enacted the Elysium Protocol," she said with some exasperation. "And Hollows? Those legends?"  
  
"They're very much real," Rei countered. "Given that he's faced them several times in the ruins of Praśāntate Samudra, he would want to be sure. Our last expedition there was specifically to ensure that the area around the Royal Palace was clear of them, and we spent several days searching out and putting to rest hundreds of them. I was there on that last expedition." She shuddered.  
  
"I see," Nemain said faintly. "I... can see why he would want to make sure then."  
  
Rei nodded, grimacing at the memory those three days. Outside of putting Hollows to rest, she, her grandfather and Boxy had all been busy with ensuring that every corpse they found was given Last Rites before they were gathered and cremated.  
  
Speaking of which...  
  
"Nemain, once the ships arrive, we are going to hold off leaving for a bit," she said.  
  
"May I ask why?" Nemain asked.  
  
"We are going to see to the dead," Rei replied. "And give everyone a chance to say goodbye."  
  
Nemain nodded.


	13. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aincrad's contingent is now in orbit,

**Mars Orbit - _HIMS Jvāleya Beḷaku_**  
  
Vice Admital Estanna Virellin looked at the projected view of Mars, there were no windows on a ship, and shook her head sadly. She had done flybys of the planet back in better days, before The Fall, and seeing the completely barren planet with no signs of the greens blues and browns that broke up the red, iron rich soils, pained her. Mars had never been the most hospitable of places, being a dry and chilly desert over most of it. Then again, most of where those in the Empire settled were even _less_ hospitable than Mars was in the beginning, but they had managed to transform those places into the living and vibrant worlds and moons they had been. Ones with their own quirks, but living and vibrant worlds and moons nonetheless.  
  
Of course, she wouldn't have seen this had the navigation beacons spread through the system not been as broken and failing as the entire Network was, causing them to overshoot Mars' location along its orbit and having to double back. She had taken this possibility into account and had her navigators map and calculate the approaches without the beacons and they had only been a hundred thousand stadia off. At least they hadn't overshot the orbit all that much, though ten thousand years had slightly shifted Mars' orbit and changed its momentum simply due to the pressure caused by the solar wind.  
  
Granted, if anyone was looking from Earth with the right optics and sufficient magnification, all of the transport ships of the floatilla were visible because of it, but that was a risk they knew they were going to take when they embarked on this mission. Even with EMCON masking their electromagnetic and thermal signatures, they were still giving off more than the background. They just had a smaller print. And that didn't account for the fact that the ships may be reflecting the Sun's light and be visible that way. Earth's technology shouldn't pick them up, but _shouldn't_ wasn't _wouldn't_.  
  
_If they did notice, I wonder what they're thinking?_ She thought.  
  
"Admiral, we are crossing the terminator into night," Senior Lieutenant Upashi Imekana, the _Jvāleya Beḷaku's_ pilot said, her Furenni accent apparent than usual. The Triton-born Andallin woman kept an eye on her instruements. "Thesssonia is still over the horizon, but we should be picking up the beacon signal shortly."  
  
Estanna nodded. "Excellent, Pilot Imekana," she said. She then turned to her Communications Officer, Sub Commander Vinjar Byrin. "Mister Byrin, continue to monitor for the beacon signal."  
  
"Understood, Admiral," Vinjar replied, the Sylph looking at the signal readouts. "Beacon signal received. Location data incoming, Received. Sending navigation data."  
  
"Navigation data received," Upashi said.  
  
"Mister Byrin, are we in range for comms?"  
  
"We are, Admiral."  
  
"Transmit along Emergency Frequency Five-Five-One that we are in orbit."  
  
**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**  
  
Rameses heard the chime of his comm and immediately turned his attention to it. He hadn't known precisely how they would let them know when the transports arrived, so he had everything he had for communication out and ready just in case.  
  
" _This is the HIMS Jvāleya Beḷaku, calling to all people on the surface, we are in orbit. Please Respond."_  
  
Rameses activated his communicator. " _Jvāleya Beḷaku,_ this is Specialist Soulfire, transmission received," he replied. "What is your ETA?"  
  
"Specialist Soulfire, this is _Jvāleya Beḷaku,_ expected ETA is twenty minutes," Came the response. "Is there anything of concern we need to be advised of?"  
  
" _Jvāleya Beḷaku_ , this is Specialist Soulfire, be advised that you will be coming in dark. Power in Thessonia is non-functional _."  
  
"Copy, Specialist Soulfire, stand by."_  
  
Rameses waited for only about a minute when his comm chimed again.  
  
" _Specialist Soulfire, this is Jvāleya Beḷaku Actual,_ " a woman said. " _Situation received. Will be sending advanced landing party. ETA fifteen minutes._ _Jvāleya Beḷaku out._ "  
  
Rameses nodded and got up from the table he was seated at. He felt Elerin gently grab his pants leg and quickly picked her up before making his way to where Rei and Lady Nemain were.  
  
**Mars Orbit - _HIMS_ _Jvāleya Beḷaku_**  
  
"All right ladies, grab your shit and get on the Spirehawk, we're going in!" Major Gerða Hólmarsdóttir ordered. "We're securing the Thessonia Spaceport and getting some light for the place so that the Navy has something to see while they go in!"  
  
"Yes ma'am!" the soldiers of the 588th Tactical Operations Company, known throughout the Royal Guard as the Night Witches, replied. The all female unit was predominantly Faerie, but that didn't stop any Humiren, Andallin, Syveri or Elf from working to make the cut and get into the unit. They just needed some extra tools to do any aerial insertions and maneuvers.  
  
"So, they're sending you ladies in, Gerða?" Asked Major Rikard Farsen, the commanding offcier of the 321st Tactical Operations Company.  
  
Gerða turned and smirked at him. "Of course," she replied. "They want to have an intact spaceport, not burning ruins, like your maniacs would do, Rikard."  
  
"As if your ladies and "ladies" are any better, Gerða." Rikard shot back with a laugh. "I seem to recall an incident on the fifty-seventh that proves that."  
  
"Baseless accusations and rumors Rikard, and you know it." Gerða replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a spaceport to secure and set some lighting up for. Wouldn't want your lads to trip on something and stab or shoot themselves when you get there, after all."  
  
"See you groundside then, you Gnome bitch."  
  
"Same, you Humeri bastard."  
  
"Both of you stop your flirting and get about what you need to do," Major General Alsten said as he walked up. "Hólmarsdóttir, get to that spaceport and make sure we can land these tubs. Farsen, get with the medical detachment and start loading what they believe we will need. Once the LZ is secure, we're going down ahead of everyone else with the medics so they can get started on the refugees."  
  
Both Gerða and Rikard saluted. "Sir!"  
  
**< <>>**  
  
Mars had transformed as soon as Rameses had informed her and was waiting a safe distance from the spaceports' landing pad with Rameses and the other SA members as they watched the small craft land.  
  
"A Spirehawk," Rameses said. "Which means they brought Tactical Operations companies."  
  
"What's that mean?" Klein asked.  
  
"That they're not taking chances," Rameses replied. "I did inform the Captain General about our encounters with Hollows in Praśāntate Samudra."  
  
"So if any show up, we have backup then?" Kunimittz asked.  
  
"If anything, we'll be _their_ backup," Rameses said dryly. "Not that they should need any.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why yes, a certain Sabaton song _did_ inspire my choice of name for the 588th Tactical Operations Company and its composition. It's an "all female unit" and they have the medical records to prove it. Oh, the Metamorphosis spell may be being in use to change the genders of any male wishing to join? Baseless rumors and accusations, I'm sure.


	14. Landing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 588th lands and begins preparing everything for the follow-on forces.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Thessonia Spaceport**  
  
Gerða made her way over to the group that was waiting a short distance away while her people began to secure the site. As she got closer, she gave them a searching look. The majority were Humiren, but there were two Syveri youths with them, a teen and a small child who quickly hid behind his leg when she saw her. The teen she recognized from the pic she had been shown in the briefing packet, Rameses Soulfire. _Isn't he the kid who blew a hole between the eighty-fourth and eighty-fifth floors and took out a nest of Sword Wraiths?_ She wondered. She shook that idle thought out of her head as she got closer and opened her senses to the magic they were giving off. _Hmm, yes, that Rameses kid's pretty powerful for a kid his age, and the others are- whoa!_ She paused as she felt the unmistakable power of a Guardian.  
  
_So that's the Guardian of Mars' reincarnation,_ she mused as she continued to approach them. Once she was close, she stopped and saluted. "Major Gerða Hólmarsdóttir, commanding officer of the 588th Tactical Operations Company," she said in Lunarian.  
  
Mars returned the salute, admittedly amateurishly and turned to Rameses and said something in what sounded like Graelic, he nodded and turned to Gerða. "She apologizes for not being able to respond in Lunarian," Rameses replied. "Right now, only a few of the reincarnated Guardians are known to be able to speak Lunarian, along with the Princess. I will be acting as her translator, though any of the others with us speak her native language and are conversant in Lunarian, so they can do so if I am not available."  
  
Gerða nodded. "She seems to be able to speak Graelic, if I am not mistaken," she noted.  
  
Rameses nodded. "We have confirmed that she and Guardian Jupiter can speak the native languages of their prior lives," he said. "It is fair to believe that the others will be able to speak their own. Anyway, is there anything you want me to pass on?"  
  
"Once we have secured and lighted the landing area, some more smaller ships will be coming down and transporting some more units to help provide security as well as doing a sweep in all directions for a stadia to ensure that we don't have any surprises. Along with my unit, we have two more Tactical Operations companies will be coming down, the 321st and the 109th along with Major General Alsterin. Medical teams sent by Healer Hakonia Fjensdottir will be in a following wave."  
  
Rameses nodded and turned to Mars and spoke to her in Graelic. Mars said something in return and he nodded. "Thank you, Major, we won't delay you any further then. The place where we set up is about half a stadia to the east, within the Pýli Sidírou."  
  
Gerða nodded and saluted one more time before heading back to get to getting everything set up.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
"So, how long do you think we will still be here?" Klein asked Rameses as they made their way back to the camp.  
  
Rameses shrugged, resettling how he was holding Elerin. "No clue," he said. "But if they're sending medical teams down, it'll probably be a few more days before we start getting to the ships to take the trip to Aincrad."  
  
Klein groaned at that. "Now I know why Asuna wanted to make sure that everyone who came had at least two weeks free," he said.  
  
Rameses just shook his head. "She told you this might take awhile, so why are you complaining?" He asked.  
  
"I'm not complaining, but I hope you don't blame me for wanting to be back on Earth, to be back at my apartment and to be sleeping on my bed," Klein said. "Don't get me wrong, what we have here is nice enough, I thought things would be rougher, but we have shelter, the cots are okay, and we at least have hot showers. And the food's not bad either. Miss having a proper bathroom, though."  
  
"Glad to know we're doing right with the food, and trust me, you're not the only one who misses having a proper bathroom," Rameses noted dryly. "Still, it won't be too long now, though part of the delay from leaving will... we will be making sure the dead are seen to before we leave."  
  
Klein nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rameses is fairly well known for what he did, to the point where the hole he blew between floors in Aincrad is known as Rameses' Skylight. They are never letting him live it down, in a Remeber When You Blew Up a Sun? way.


	15. The General

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General Alsterin has arrived.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**   
  
The first thing Dynamm noticed about the man as he approached with Rameses was that he was shorter than expected. Granted, it wasn't as if he was tiny, but the man stood at a height that was slightly less than the Japanese average, though judging by his build, the man was definitely muscular. And in a way that would probably make a professional body builder feel inadequate.  
  
Then again, the man was military, and from what he had been told about the Royal Guard from that era, they were an elite fighting force. Given what he had seen of Solbjoem, the only Royal Guardsman he had met until today, that would fit. Even out of practice from a decade of civilian living with only the occasional Youma who strayed to where he needed to handle it, the man blew most of the SA out of the water in terms of skill, though not necessarily experience.  
  
The difference between being properly trained, rather than taught almost solely by experience.  
  
"As I mentioned, they may lack the kind of training that the Royal Guard has, but the simulation that served as a substitute allowed them to gain two years of experience before they took to the field after it was ended, sir," he heard Rameses say in Lunarian as the two got closer. It took a bit for Dynamm to parse what was said, his capability with the language wasn't the best. "It made them effective against the _Avyavastheya Racanegaḷu_ , and as mentioned, gave the Guardians the breathing room needed to concentrate on ending the threat at the source. They even did a raid against their Headquarters and rescued the remaining prisoners that were still alive there, though there were only three at the time."  
  
"A successful raid and rescue mission, nonetheless," the man accompanying Rameses noted. "How costly was it?"  
  
Dynamm winced at the question, though he didn't blame the man for asking. A professional soldier _would_ ask that question, if only to compare the SA to the Royal Guard.  
  
Rameses sighed. "They lost three, sir," he replied. "And that was the only time they lost anyone, and they assaulted that same place a second time with the Guardians to _end_ the threat once and for all. They won it and didn't lose anyone."  
  
"Don't sell what you, your sister and the ones who kept the Kokyo safe did short, kid," Klein said walking up. "You all stopped them cold and even took prisoners when all was said and done. Even if you had to argue the matter with Uranus and Venus after the fact."  
  
"I read about that in the report the Captain General handed me when he briefed me on some things," the general said. "Major General Alsterin."  
  
"Klein, of the Silver Army," Klein replied. "No rank, though that will probably change as we now have time to properly organize. I'm in charge of this bunch."  
  
The general nodded.  
  
"They sent someone important, didn't they?" He heard Luna ask. Dynamm managed to keep himself from snorting a laugh, as that comment was so Luna.  
  
"Yes, Usagi, they did," Mars replied with an exasperated sigh.


	16. A Quick Discussion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, it's time to discuss the evacuation, even as things will still take some time.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Pýli Sidírou**   
  
"Guardian Mars, Lady Nemain, I bring to you Major General Rendari Alsterin, Aincrad's Second-in-Command," Rameses said in Graelic. "Guardian Mars, I will be serving as your translator, if that is permissible."  
  
Mars nodded, she, Nemain and Rameses had already gone over this, but she understood the protocol behind him explaining his presence and the reasons. "That is permissible," she replied before looking at Nemain. "Lady Nemain?"  
  
Nemain nodded. "That is permissible," she replied in Lunarian.  
  
"Understood, Lady Nemain," Rameses replied. "General, if you would?" He asked in Lunarian.  
  
"Right," Rendari replied. "It is my pleasure to tender Aincrad's services and to offer succor in these trying times, as you may have been informed about."  
  
Nemain nodded. "Both Specialist Soulfire and Guardian Mars have relayed this information to me and it is my honor to accept it," she replied. "Allow me to offer my thanks in return, as well as for Aincrad offering supplies to us while we waited for you to gather the assets needed to evacuate everyone. I am not _pleased_ about the necessity of evacuating, but I understand it."  
  
Rendari nodded. "Understandable," he replied. "And the rest of the survivors?"  
  
Nemain closed her eyes. "After waking up, only to find so many didn't... many of them would want to leave here," she replied. "Too many painful reminders of what was lost."  
  
Rameses could only nod when he heard it, even as he translated for Mars. That had been what he thought the general sentiment among the survivors was. Some were understandably grudging about it, but they had accepted it.  
  
Thessonia was a city of the dead now.  
  
Both the general and Lady Nemain began to discuss how things would go from this point, the medical checks, and then the evacuation and medical quarantine as everyone got vaccinated for Aincrad, with Rameses translating for Mars, who offered her opinion on a few matters, such as seeing to the dead before they left. Not only to prevent any possibility of them going Hollow, unlikely as that would be, but to give all the survivors closure as well. They continued to talk for close to an hour, with Rameses translating for Mars the entire time, when a schedule of how everything would be handled was agreed on.


	17. Evacuation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Evacuation begins and we get a look into Martian funerary traditions. Also, they weren't as sneaky as they thought they were, not that it changes anything.

**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Thessonia Spaceport**  
  
Rameses briefly looked back at the _Pýli Sidírou_ before turning his attention back to the lines of people boarding the shuttles that would take them to the transport ships waiting in orbit. The last four sols had been... taxing, to say the least. Not only had he been busy helpind the medical people that Healer Hakonia sent find a place to set up so they could check everyone, he also had to be present for the many meetings between General Alsten, Lady Nemain, and Guardian Mars. Mostly to translate, thankfully, but he was running on little sleep as it was and was in desperate need of some kaf to wake himself up.  
  
When was the last cup he drank again?  
  
"Here," Klein said as he walked up and handed him a steaming cup of the aforementioned beverage.  
  
Rameses gratefully took it and took a deep draw of the kaf. "Thanks," he said. "How're things going with the teardown?"  
  
"Almost done," Klein replied. "It's going faster than setting everything up did and we should be done in an hour or so. How about on this end?"  
  
Rameses gestured to the lines. "They're making good time getting everyone to the transports," he said. "We should be done well before dawn so we can leave Mars without attracting any attention from Earth if anyone's looking."  
  
"And if any of the orbiters pass near?" Klein asked.  
  
"Give us some credit," Rameses said. "But you're right about that. Our ships are running dark and they're using stealth. Apparently, they've been monitoring any transmissions and nothing has turned up yet, so it is working as far as I know."  
  
**Mars Orbit**  
  
"Orbiter has crossed the horizon, ma'am," Alghin Rukeri, her tactical officer said. "There are no signs of any transmissions indicating that we were spotted. It looks like our masking the thermal emissions from the shuttles with noise is working."  
  
Vice Admiral Elstanna Virellin nodded at the report. "Keep monitoring all electromagnetic wavelengths for any transmissions and be ready to intercept and mask with noise if needed," she said. "We want to keep our presence here as secret as possible and Earth's technology may be primitive when compared to ours, but don't discount it. As it stands, we may have masked them picking up any emissions, but the nose can indicate to them that something is going on."  
  
She wasn't betting on them being not savvy enough to pick up on that, even if they didn't know _what_ was going on. As it stood, the increasing power of the biofield around Thessonia and the general improvement of Mars' environment wouldn't be missed by them. In fact, they were probably wondering what was going on as it stood.  
  
Their own sensors indicated that the planet's atmosphere had thickened, though anyone on the planet would still need an EVA suit unless they went into the basin where Mar's primary ocean had long since boiled away. The air pressure was now just thick enough that they could use simple breathers without running the risk of the fluids in their bodies boiling away, though they would need to dress _very_ warmly, the temperatures were still cold enough to flash freeze water over most of the planet. Well, unless they stumbled into Thessonia's biofield, where it was significantly warmer along with an atmosphere that was thick enough to breathe without assistance.  
  
For now, at least. Mars' magnetic field, now fully covering the planet, was still too weak to be self sustaining without Guardian Mars' continued presence on the planet for several years. Commander Evenna, her science officer had scanned it and said that after they evacuated, it would last for, at most, about five years before returning to the dormant state it had been in.  
  
**Earth - Washington D.C., NASA Headquarters**  
  
"Explain this again, Doctor Davis," NASA Administrator Richard Neumann said.  
  
"Certainly, Mr. Neumann," Gordon Davis, Ph.D. replied. "We have received unusual readings from Mars over the last two weeks indicating a sudden and noticeable rise in atmospheric pressure and an increase in temperature. While the pressure and temperatures are still not enough to support liquid water, they have increased considerably. As it stands, the atmospheric pressure in the lowest regions of the planet may have risen to above the Armstrong Limit throughout the basin, meaning that if the temperature rise continues as is, it may be able to support liquid fresh water while exposed to atmosphere. At the same time, we have determined that a weak magnetic field has arisen around Mars."  
  
Richard nodded, indicating he was listening. He may not be an astrophysicist or planetary scientist, but he had been involved in the development of many of the systems currently monitoring Mars, so he knew just how startling these revelations were. "Do we have any explanation as to why?" He asked.  
  
Dr. Davis shook his head. "Unfortunately, not at this time," he replied. "The atmospheric and temperature readings came from _Curiosity_ and it hasn't picked up anything, natural or artificial, as to indicate why. Magnetic field readings have been measure by the _Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter_ and confirmed by other unmanned probes in the vicinity of Mars. The MRO has also detected something unusual above the Amazonis Planitia on thermal imaging. They are odd, though."  
  
"Odd, how?" Richard asked.  
  
"The MRO is only able to pick them up during the daylight hours over that region as it seems to be running into some interference when it is over Mars' night side which is making any readings inconclusive due to signal noise overlaying them," Dr. Davis replied.  
  
Richard considered that for a moment. "Keep monitoring it for now, but get to analyzing everything," he said. "I want to know if the reasons for this can be determined as natural, artificial, and yes, that includes system glitches. Send the readings of the signal noise to SETI and the DoD as well, they may be able to make sense of them."  
  
"The DoD, I can understand," Dr. Graves replied. "But SETI?"  
  
"If the reasons are artificial, then SETI may be able to explain it," Richard replied. "Same with the DoD. Adn before you say anything, keep in mind that SETI's criteria for establishing that a signal is artificial and of extraterrestrial origin is strict. Such as the signals being repeating, and the MRO has been consistently running into this on Mars' night side. Keep it on the down low, though. We are simply looking into a possibility, there is probably a natural cause for this. We're not stating unequivocally that we have been seeing signs of Little Green Men on Mars. Not without conclusive proof."  
  
Dr. Graves nodded.  
  
**Mars - Thessonia Ruins, Thessonia Spaceport**  
  
"All right, that's the last of them," Rei said as she walked over to Rameses. "We should board the shuttles."  
  
Rameses nodded. "Have you ensured that the remains of the pyres have cooled?" He asked. He hadn't seen a mass cremation in years, but there was no way he was going to leave without the dead being seen to. It was the right thing to do, the possibility of any of the dead going Hollow may have factored into it, but they would have noticed signs of Hollow activity by now, meaning that the chances of Hollows being anywhere near the _Pýli Sidírou_ were slim and may be fairly low for Thessonia as a whole.  
  
The mass cremation of all the bodies had been the previous night. They started by fasting for the day, moving all the deceased to a cleared area outside the _Pýli Sidírou_. When the sun set, they broke their fast with unleavened _psomí,_ salt and water before walking to where the dead had been gathered. Traditionally, they would be on stacks of wood treated with scented oil, but they made do with what the Priests and Royal Guard personnel brought due to them having expected this being asked for. The wood was much less than would be normal, and they had to use quick and hot burning oils that were minimally scented, but the pyres were lit by Guardian Mars at the stroke of midnight, as was tradition. To send the spirits of the dead off when one day closed and a new one opened, everyone wailing their grief at the life ended and the spirit's journey away from family, friends, loved ones and even complete strangers who were present, Then they all filed back to the camp and feasted, those who took to cooking having been working all day.  
  
Everyone from Earth had been caught off guard with it, that they would party at a funeral, but that was the tradition on Mars. They would celebrate the lives lived, everyone partaking of food and drink (no wine, though), every table having a fully set dinner prepared that no one partook of. That dinner was for the spirits of the dead, to send them on their journey with full bellies and with happy memories.  
  
"We have," Rei replied. "And the ashes, you wish to leave them?"  
  
Rameses nodded. "The ashes will be spread by the wind, ushering the spirits of the dead to their next life, to be born anew in time. But their journey will be within a dream, so that they may tell those who went before and haven't yet been reborn their stories, to be judged on their lives, and to rest betweem lives."  
  
Rei nodded. "You will have to explain the details the best you can some time," she said. "It's different to how we do it in Japan."


	18. Arriving at Aincrad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The evacuation has been done and they are now arriving at Aincrad.

**Saturn Orbit, approximately 5,000,000 km from the Rings**  
  
Luna looked at the display in awe as she saw Saturn's daylight side projected for everyone to see and growing as they approached the solar system's sixth planet. She would admit, she was a little disappointed that they didn't have windows to look out of, something about ensuring that she ship's structural integrity was maintained without weak points, but the displays made for a good substitute.  
  
"It's a hell of a sight, isn't it?" Dynamm asked from behind her.  
  
Luna gave a startled jump and rapidly turned to see him and the others looking at the display with their own awed looks. Well, not Rameses, he was giving the display a more nostalgic look instead while holding Elerin, his cousin, on his shoulders. The little girl was giving the display an equally awed look as everyone else.  
  
"Better than seeing it in pictures or in movies," Luna agreed and turned back to look at the display.  
  
She heard Rei say something in Graelic, probably translating for Rameses and Elerin, causing Rameses to snort.  
  
"If you think that's impressive, wait until you get your first look at Aincrad," Rameses said in Lunarian before saying it again in Graelic. "I wonder how they'll make the approach. Aincrad was in Saturn's orbit, well _Titan's_ orbit, when my parents and I came here, not in its atmosphere. It'll probably be even _more_ impressive than when I last saw it from the outside."  
  
"Oh?" Klein asked. "How?"  
  
Rameses shrugged. "We'll all see soon enough," he said.  
  
**< <>>**  
  
It took them another hour to get into position to enter Saturn's atmosphere, and Rameses observed the hexagonal storm that was Saturn's Northern Polar Vortex. He could see Saturn's Northern Pole lit up by the light of the sun and smiled to himself at the impressive sight. Admiral Virellin was probably taking advantage of the opportunity to show off, despite the fact that they would be entering Saturn's atmosphere shortly. He could see the growth of Saturn's image begin to fill up the display projection exclusively, even as the ship notably slowed to begin atmospheric reentry. Soon, flames dominated the display, tapering off after about ten minutes as the atmosphere helped in slowing the ship to show only a fog as they made their way through the clouds.  
  
_Any minute now,_ he thought. "Everyone, watch," he said in Graelic and Lunarian as he saw the cloud cover thin and then disappear to show Aincrad lit by the sun's light.

"May I present to everyone... Aincrad," Rameses declared right as a flash of lightning on the storm's wall lit everything up even more. "It's not much, but I've called it home for ten years." He gave a sardonic smirk. "Not counting the ten thousand or so I spent in stasis, that is."  
  
"Holy- _look at the size of that thing!_ " Klein exclaimed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes, Fallout: Mars Edition.


End file.
